Next month marks half a century since Blazing Saddles, which opened on February 7, 1974. The Mel Brooks film easily makes the list of movies that would not be made today. That’s a good thing because the original has a lot going for it.
As some critics have pointed out, Mel Brooks is an equal opportunity offender. Bear in mind that one of the writers was Richard Pryor, who could laugh at prejudice with the best of them. As veterans of the time will attest, we all laughed louder then. Fifty years down the road, the baleful woke squads detest comedy, and as Dave Chappelle has noted, the “alphabet people” proclaim themselves off limits. A new theatrical release for Blazing Saddles could help turn that around but in the meantime we could do with a refresher.
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